Bob Schatz: Photographer by Design
In the heart of Nashville, seconds from civilization, in a mid-century modern house hanging on a hill, lives famed photographer Bob Schatz.
His home, designed by Robert Anderson in 1973, is sited so every perspective of the sweeping view is picture perfect, as if it were created specially for its current occupant. He greets me at the door with a smile that comes easily and stays throughout our visit. We settle into the kitchen where he boils coffee on the stove and begins with proud stories of his children, Douglas and Annie, both artists in their own right.
While Schatz whole-heartedly embraces the digital era, his children choose classic cameras and film.
Douglas, a junior in college, shoots with a Holga, even experimenting with wet plate photography. Beams Schatz, “You can’t get any more basic than making your own emulsions, painting it onto glass, and exposing it before it gets dry.” Annie, a high school junior, shoots with Schatz’s old Hasselblads and took this photograph of President Obama during his campaign.
Capturing the essence of the nation’s fascination at the time, the picture demonstrates how a simple image can sometimes communicate better than even the most eloquent orator.
Bob Schatz got his start, not as a photographer, but as a model.
Being an only child, the constant flash in his face as his parents photographed his every move eventually piqued his curiosity. He recalls that he began stealing the camera out of his father’s closet at around six years old. A babysitter noticed his intrigue and bought him his first Brownie box camera which he would take along with him to elementary school. Largely self-taught, he learned dark room skills while working on high school year books and newspapers.
At Belmont University, he won so many photo competitions, he finally figured this must be his calling.
Although he earned a business degree, upon graduation Schatz became an apprentice to Mike Borum, then one of the top commercial photographers in town and today, the owner of Chromatics (www.chromatics.com). Borum entrusted Schatz with smaller projects and even better, allowed Schatz the freedom to use the studio and pursue his own endeavors. Schatz quickly mastered his learning curve and set out on his own about a year later.
His exploits have since taken him around the country and the world. His wife, Lisa, gave him an atlas that he carries with him on his travels, circling the places he visits along the way – more of the map than not has been marked.
His work has been featured in publications such as The New York Times Magazine, Forbes, Newsweek, National Geographic Traveler, among others. With a career spanning 30 plus years and a library of more than 200,000 photographs, he has become one of Nashville’s most prominent and prolific photographers.
While producing advertising and corporate photography for giants like Toshiba, DuPont, and Chevron Texaco, Schatz walks a fine line between commercialism and art. Many of his commercial pieces have been taken into various permanent collections, such as the Tennessee State Museum, the Frist, Cheekwood, the Nashville Public Library, and other distinguished institutions.
But it is his work here in Tennessee that endears him to us most.
His images celebrate the land and the culture of the South.
He has published half a dozen books on Southernscapes:
Tennessee Simply Beautiful, Nashville Impressions, Asheville Impressions, Tennessee Impressions, Memphis Impressions, and Nashville by Design: Architectural Treasures.
In his first book, Tennessee Simply Beautiful, Tipper Gore writes, “Bob Schatz has focused on nature, architecture, history, and culture in his unique portrait of the diversity, raw beauty, and eternal spirit of our state.” The publication consists of 129 immaculate images culled from over 15 years of work.
His latest, Nashville by Design: Architectural Treasures, is a collaboration with Christine Kreyling, an award winning author specializing in Nashville architecture.
Showcasing intricate details of beloved landmarks such as the State Capitol, the Hermitage, Union Station, and Cheekwood, Schatz also highlights smaller gems such as the classic Craftsman Bungalow home – an architectural trademark of many Nashville neighborhoods – and the Martin House, the mid-century modern home that was the first local residence from the 1950’s to make the National Register.
Having played with architectural themes all his career, Nashville by Design is more of a personal journey of his own favorite spots in the city.
In his preface, Schatz suggests that our lives are generally so busy these days that we miss the lines, the angles, the details of the structures we see every day all around us. “I think it’s important for Nashville to be appreciated for the variety and depth of its built environment.”
His hope is that the book will inspire Nashvillians to “slow down, to see the lines of a building, to look at the details of a column capital – to read and appreciate the visual language of architecture…but most importantly…simply slow down and appreciate.”
Governor Phil Bredesen writes in the forward, “Schatz has a gift for using the play of light and angles to simultaneously find historical significance and newfound beauty in our buildings.”
Schatz explains, “Architecture doesn’t move, but it’s certainly not static. The light is moving – time of day, the angle of the light, the intensity of the light, always changing colors and what details are revealed. No matter how many times I photograph a building or an interior, the picture is never exactly the same.”
When asked if he could categorize himself into a particular genre, he says, “Well, I’ve never thought of myself as a landscape photographer although I’ve done quite a bit of it.”
Schatz has tens of thousands of landscape shots. However, in the grand scheme of his vast library, he might have a point.
“I’ve really always gravitated to the built environment,” he maintains.
Had he not become a professional photographer, he muses he might have been an architect.
In the midst of his career, Schatz’s love of structure almost led him back to architectural school. But confining Bob Schatz to a desk would be an impossible task. The twinkle in his eyes hint at adventures past and future, even while appreciating the present.
“Photography gives me a way to study buildings more closely,” he happily compromises.
Architectural juxtaposition of opposites is a theme Schatz often loves to portray in his art.
“There’s something about the built environment that I really love. You’re dealing with a lot of grids and repeating patterns and shapes that can complement and at the same time, contrast against each other…I love shooting, say, an older building peeking out from behind a very modern structure.”
He speaks passionately of his next project, creating a book of his series entitled Inspirational Spaces.
The collection depicts famous authors’ homes and writing retreats, such as the historically preserved interiors of Faulkner’s and Carl Sandberg’s homes. While photographing the boarding house where Thomas Wolfe grew up, he discovered Thomas’ bedroom was whichever one happened to be vacant.
Capturing these snippets of the past, he seeks to convey “the feeling of life that remains in the details of those places.”
Using a special technique called quad-toning, he shoots in color and then converts to four greyscale tones which enhance the depth and tonality of the photographs.
As he was photographing Flannery O’Connor’s home just south of Atlanta, it occurred to him that this project was also an unconscious journey through his own Southern upbringing. Eudora Welty’s house, like the others, is a museum maintained with appropriate reverence. Schatz discovered her dresser top of perfumes – Chanel no. 5, a flacon of L’Air du Temps – recalled impressions of his own grandmother’s dresser. The fireplaces, the porches, the rocking chairs, the landscapes…were all memories of his childhood in Middle Tennessee.
Schatz breathes life and intimacy into each of his photographs and has the ability to make even exotic images somehow seem familiar.
His warmth and personality shine through his art, honoring each subject and endearing him to the observer.
The photography of Bob Schatz can be found locally at the Arts Company at 215 5th Avenue North or www.stockschatz.com.
Nashville by Design: Architectural Treasures can be found at Davis-Kidd, The Caldwell Collection, The Arts Company, The Frist Museum Shop, Fabu, Borders, Hot Pink and many other gift and museum shops.
by Olivia Sarratt McCarthy
**Photos of Bob Schatz by Monique Larroux, photograph of President Obama by Annie Schatz, all other photography by Bob Schatz
